Lady Caroline: a table’s story from rags to riches

Going to garage sales and thrift stores is a little bit like a blind date. Most of the time you walk away with nothing to show for it. But every once in a while, you meet someone special and it is love at first sight. So it was with Caroline.

Caroline was sitting in a huge moving sale a few streets down from my house. She was a little dirty, and was starting to show her age. People obviously didn’t think much of her, because she was only being sold for a dollar.

For me, however, it was love at first sight, and the price was right. For a dollar I knew I could transform little Caroline into quite the lady that would soon be sitting pretty on my front porch. I made a quick trip to the Walmarts for some spray paint in Hosta Green, and found a spare hour to work my magic.

One can of paint later, Caroline was transformed into Lady Caroline, the perfect companion to sit with me on the porch, providing a place to set my drink, and happily holding up a pretty violet. Here she is showing off her feminine curves. Isn’t she a beauty?

Here’s the step-by-step:

Take before picture :-)

Use wire brush to remove any flaking paint. This table is plastic, and some of the white paint had started to peel off, so I helped it along.

Outdoors, set the table on a dropcloth and start spraying with the paint. Do several light coats one minute apart, being careful to get really good coverage.

Let stand for 24 hours or until fully dry. Spray paint dries quickly, but it’s always best to give the paint time to cure, and to allow the vapors to evaporate, especially if you will be using the item inside.

You did a beautiful job! The etching on the top reminds me a lot of Florentine pieces that I have, that same pattern is found on a couple of different pieces that I have. It looks beautiful painted, though!